Brian Reid running for council

Encouraged, he said, by his fellow townspeople, Brian Reid has decided to run for council and is calling for all others to make their plans known sooner rather than later.

"If you are serious about running in this election, man or woman-up and get out there," he said this week.

"If you want to represent your town, get out there and start doing it."

Several potential candidates are playing their cards close to their chest as the deadline for the nomination process approaches.

Only Councillor Ralph Forsyth has said he is running for mayor. Incumbents Chris Quinlan and Tom Thomson have confirmed their intentions to run again, as has Jack Crompton. Reid's announcement brings the total number of council candidates to four.

This, despite the municipality confirming it has had a number of inquiries about running for office. Candidates have until Oct. 14 to turn in their nomination papers.

Reid, however, learned that he is unable to set up a separate campaign fundraising account unless he provides those papers.

An Ontario transplant and local resident for almost 20 years, Reid announced his intentions Friday, with a call for Whistler to focus on what he said is truly important: providing value for money, be it at municipal hall or with the guests that come to visit here for their vacations.

He questions how the municipality can compare itself to Lower Mainland cities as its gauge for municipal wages.

"We have 10,000 people in our town; these other cities have excess of 100,000," he said in a press release.

It's time to look for ways to increase revenues, added Reid, and reduce costs while providing services that are efficient and beneficial to everyone.

One way to increase those revenues at the hall, he said, would be to legitimize the non-conforming space in Whistler, space that is not officially calculated. Legitimizing the space, said Reid, would increase the square footage of homes and therefore their values, which would bring in more tax dollars to the hall.

"The time has come to answer the questions that the hardworking taxpayers are asking," he said. "It is time for the municipality to start working for us, not the other way around."

Reid, who is an avid skier, mountain biker and hockey player, is an agent operations manager with Whistler Resort Management. Through his work he has come to understand how councils and strata corporations function.

"These operate just like a municipality with obtaining fees (taxes) and running out a budget for both short and long-term expenditures," he said. "I believe that my years in this business will not only help me overcome the pitfalls many associate with being a municipal representative, but to also thrive in this environment."

Candidates can pick up their nomination forms on August 26 at municipal hall.

The nomination period opens at 9 a.m. on Oct. 4 and two people who are qualified to vote must nominate each candidate.

The nomination period ends on Oct. 14, leaving candidates little more than one month to campaign before Election Day on Nov. 19.